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#11
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22yrs in the Navy. Go for it.You will enjoy it. Try the SeaBees. http://www.v1rotate.com View this thread: http://www.v1rotate.com/portal/forum...threadid=90627 |
#12
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"BlackBeard" wrote in message
om... "Doug \"Woody\" and Erin Beal" wrote in message ... Look, your best bet is NOT to enlist. Get your citizenship first and either jump into the Navy or Air Force as an officer OR go to someplace like Eglin AFB, NAS Pax River, MD, or NAWS China Lake, CA and get a challenging technical job as a civilian engineer (civil servant). The pay will be decent, and the satisfaction is great because you'll be working with cutting edge weapons systems--hands on--an engineer's dream. The best advice so far, but.... [ SNIP ] Sorry, the story is so vague and downright strange I would pass on it if I was in a hiring position. I apologize in advance to the author, but my initial impression of the post was that it was bait for an upcoming troll or a fabrication from a very young (naive) person creating a scenario for whatever reason. [ SNIP ] I actually thought so too, but then I figured it was whacked enough to be true, because I've known people who did the tour all the way through postdoc in sciences and engineering, and then they realized that they didn't like at all the career path they had chosen. I'd just hire on the basis of demonstrated electronics knowledge if that's what trips his trigger. AHS |
#13
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"Atcrossroad" wrote in message om... It's quite loser's story but, hell, I'll not fall lower by telling it. snip-----snip-----snip-----snip-----snip-----snip-----snip----- A guy I used to see fishing on the beach at Cape Hatteras NC had an advanced degree in engineering (masters I believe) and was in the Coast Guard.He had a similar story, school, several jobs he didn't like. He joined the Coast Guard at about 30 years of age I believe. He was in the Aviation Maintenance field. The last I heard of him he was a Chief Warrant Officer. The Coast Guard is small enough that the senior enlisted are often given small commands, etc. You could be a big fish there, even if it is a small pond. I put my 22½ years in the Marines and don't regret it. But the only other service I would consider would be the Coast Guard. |
#14
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#16
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"Atcrossroad" wrote in message om... It's quite loser's story but, hell, I'll not fall lower by telling it. I've made a big mistake in my life, namely, I've got a Ph.D. in engineering from a second tier graduate program. Since graduation, I had a string of sh*t pay, no benefits, long hours, dead-end postdocs ("permanently" temporary research slave jobs for 50% of the fresh (and not so fresh) Ph.D.s who cannot find a real job). Well, me (and many, many others) had/have no other options. During postdocing (brain numbing, overall pointless, BS peddling to cheat a buck from Uncle Sam kind of a job), I have developed a strong aversion to the (academic) research trade. I cannot stand it (even in an exchange for a theoretical lofty paycheck). Had I liked it, I would have roughed through everything, but...research is for the single-minded zombies with talents of a used car salesman. And it's not me. I really like engineering, but with my degree and experience, entry level engineering jobs are reliably out of my reach. I am overqualified for entry-level jobs (too old also), and I am unqualified for experience-only jobs. 1 year of unsuccessful applying for all kinds of engineering jobs is enough to realize that there is nothing for me in the "real world". Do not get me wrong, I have good GPAs (3.9 both in undergrad and grad schools), I have 10 or so publications in the premiere science journals, I have a good research resume and good recommendations. But all that is not enough to land an engineering job these days. What to do? I do not have a formal degree in EE, but I do like electronics and I do know a lot about it. It's my true passion. I'd like to pursue a career in electronics (desirably engineering, but technician jobs are OK too - more difficult to offshore). It happens that I like sea, I like (to learn about, at least) navy, ships, ship's weaponry, naval history. I would like to try something different, new and manly like a military service. Clock is ticking. In 4 years (I'm 30 y.o. now), I'll not have a military option. So, I am considering enlisting to navy. Local recruiters are not making their quotas, I was forgiven my 10 extra pounds. I think I'll be able to pass physical. I have the right attitude to get through a boot camp too. Also, I am a permanent resident i.e. an officer school is not an option (I am not sure if I would be allowed to enter an officer school in such a ripe age, anyway). My questions: 1) Is 30 y.o. is too old to be a sailor? I know navy is OK with 30y.o. sailors, but..will I look like a freak among early 20th crowd? 2) Have you ever seen a Ph.D. enlisting as a sailor? Do you think it will be better for me not to mention my Ph.D. at all: a) to avoid future pecking along the line "let's see how smart you really are" b) not to be an unofficial poster child for a loser. How thoroughly background check is done? Will such an omission be counted against me if discovered? 3) What is the most challenging electronics field in navy? What is its rate? Is it open for non citizens (Hopefully, I'll be a citizen in 2 years or so)? Ideally, I would like something involving little bit of design (I hope to pass PE exam in the future, and I need a design experience to be registered as a professional engineer). 4) Assuming that I will like the service, will be good at it, will get my citizenship and will decide to become an officer: a) what is max age for applicants to an officer school? b) will I be required to fulfill my enlistment obligations prior to applying to a school? 5) Are those with earned college degrees qualified for the Navy college funds? 6) In army, enlisted college graduates fresh out of a boot camp get higher rank than HS graduates do. Does anything like that exist in navy? Thanks to anyone who'll bother to reply. I don't want to rain on your parade, but it sounds like about the only thing you are really qualified for is to do what most of the others with a PhD in engineering do. Get out of the field (like I did) and do something else. Either that, start your own business, or go academic. I never really worked directly in the engineering field, the BS was to keep my dad happy and off my back, but my main goal was to get into NAVCAD. The advance engineering degree's I got later were just something to do while I spent a few years in the Durham NC VA hospital which is next to Duke. Heck I have met more people that work in something other than what they got their degree in than those that do. Red |
#17
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Atcrossroad wrote:
(BlackBeard)... "Doug \"Woody\" and Erin Beal"... Look, your best bet is NOT to enlist. Get your citizenship first and either jump into the Navy or Air Force as an officer OR go to someplace like Eglin AFB, NAS Pax River, MD, or NAWS China Lake, CA and get a challenging technical job as a civilian engineer (civil servant). The pay will be decent, and the satisfaction is great because you'll be working with cutting edge weapons systems--hands on--an engineer's dream. The best advice so far, but.... With the exception that his story was just vague enough to raise flags. PhD in what? He stated electronics was just a hobby and he doesn't have the degree in it. So is he an ME? AE? Choo-Choo engineer? Sanitation Engineer? 2nd tier schools...Ph.D. in systems engineering...only a vague clue about systems engineering...all my experience is in materials science/metallurgy...degree raises flags. I have a B.S. in metallurgical engineering, not really a high demand/growth field too. There is a significant Ph.D. glut in the labor market. Ph.D. from a good school is not an advantage (in most of the cases) in the real world (outside of narrow research fields). Ph.D. from a second tier is simply a burden on one's neck. Waaa, waaa, waaaa, $%^&-ing waaa. Dude, get over your whining. Life sucks, it's tough out there. Saying having a PhD is somehow a burden and holds you back is a steaming load of horse manure. If it holds you back, it's because you let it. Do you think resumes have the slightest impact in getting a job? HA! They are screening forms, allowing people to throw you into a circular file. No wonder you're underemployed. you spend all your effort making excuses. Join the Navy, so you can be further disappointed with life's slings and arrows, and how the system hasn't recognized and taken advantage of your now overeducated abilities. Buying an education is like buying a box of tools. Yours are sitting on the shelf unused. That's your fault. Go buy a falling apart house and use your engineering skills to restore it and sell it for a profit. Take broken radios and fix them. Fix TVs. Want to work on electronics? Just do it! Do great at it, and people will come knocking on your door, instead of you knocking on theirs. Talent is always rewarded. All you have is potential. Or do you really want a Dilbert job where someone hand feeds you? Go out and buy a copy of "What Color is Your Parachute" by a Mr. Bolles. Your local bookstore will have it. study it, complete it, follow it. You'll get what you want that way. |
#18
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John A. Stovall wrote:
"What Color is Your Parachute" is the most useless job search book ever written. He would to better to spend the money it costs on a coffee and networking in Starbucks. You get the job you want by contacts and networks not a book. Have you read the book? That's exactly what it has you do. And it helps you figure out how to do it. Duh. |
#19
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"Red Rider" wrote in message
om... [ SNIP ] I never really worked directly in the engineering field, the BS was to keep my dad happy and off my back, but my main goal was to get into NAVCAD. The advance engineering degree's I got later were just something to do while I spent a few years in the Durham NC VA hospital which is next to Duke. Heck I have met more people that work in something other than what they got their degree in than those that do. Probably a third to a half of the programmers I know actually got their degrees in something other than CS. In some cases, things like English or history. They frequently turn out to be better software developers than the formally trained people. I know a nurse who abruptly changed careers in her late '30's, and is now an ocean kayaking and rockclimbing guide. Not to mention quite a few more who have made similar radical shifts. Hell, at the age of thirty you still have all the options open to you. I wouldn't enlist in the Navy, but if you're having problems establishing an enjoyable career at that age you're doing something wrong. AHS |
#20
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What about the Merchant Marine? I'm not up and up on their requirements,
but it could be a good choice. Damian |
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